A Thousand LinkedIn “Connections”: what should we really call it?

It seems I’ve reached some kind of milestone; over 1,000 LinkedIn connections.  That begs the question: now what?

I went ahead and Googled for an answer and the result shouldn’t have surprised me; make ACTUAL connections with those you’ve “Linked” to.  OK, that’s easy, right?

Wait, what?  How do you make real connections with a thousand people?  I’ve read (Simon Sinek) that the number of close relationships one can realistically maintain is 150.

“Putting it another way,” he likes to say, “it’s the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar.”

Sinek, Simon (2014-01-07). Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t (p. 113). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.

So the answer is “no”? But we’re not talking about making a thousand friends, right?  We’re talking about making a difference or impact, however small, in a thousand people’s lives. OK, that seems a little more attainable.

And…. the question still lingers – What now?

I’m going to couch this one for now and let you all stew on it a bit.  What should I do, now that I’ve potentially got the “ear” of a thousand professionals from across the country?

Anything?